Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Deet Petite

TRAVEL

Those who may be spending some time in the Constitution State this summer may be interested in the following:
The next week or two could bring a mosquito baby boom in Connecticut.

Chief State Medical Entomologist Theodore Andreadis says recent rainy weather left behind standing water, which the insects need to reproduce.

"Mosquitoes need water to develop," Andreadis said. "Three of their life stages occur in water.

"There is no great mystery," Adnreadis said. "The more rainfall and flooding you have, the larger the mosquito populations are as we proceed throughh summer."

Although bats eat insects like mosquitoes, Andreadis says the winter bat die-off will probably have only a small effect on the mosquito population.

He says it is still too soon to say what effect the larger mosquito population will have on West Nile Virus this summer.
With Connecticut "home to 49 species of mosquitoes," visitors would be well advised to pack plenty of repellent before they leave home.

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